Noninvasive Automated Diagnostic System for Aircraft Wiring

This SBIR will result in a system for Automated Noninvasive Health Monitoring and Failure Detection in Aircraft Electrical Wiring Systems. A Smart Insert Connector (SIC) will be designed for one-time insertion into all wiring end-connectors in existing aircraft. Each SIC will be based on VLSI/MEMS technology and will incorporate several systems on a microchip: a wiring testing and inspection system, an on-line wire failure analysis and diagnosis system, and a switching system for testing large bundles of multiple wires. A VLSI/MEMS hand-held Interrogator Unit (IU) will be designed to allow a roaming human Maintenance Technician to communicate with the distributed network of SICs for noninvasive harvesting of the wire health status resident in the memory of each SIC. Additional decision-making software will allow the integration of the SIC inputs into an analysis of the overall health status of the complete aircraft wiring system. This system will avoid the removal for testing of 5,000 wires per year and drastically reduce the probability of aircraft malfunctions, which cause crash disasters such as TWA 800 and SwissAir 111. WPI, Inc. has 40 years of experience with aircraft connectors and wiring, numerous patents, and a successful product line of military and commercial electrical connectors.